Thursday, October 6, 2011

I'm getting motivated to tackle the bathroom wall tile grout again. This bathroom project has really been my nemesis and it was close to being done last year. But of course we over-estimated both our abilities and grout set time for the wall tiles. We were left with a functional but sloppy mess to clean up.

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Caked on grout before cleaning.

﻿﻿﻿Last night I decided enough was enough and we should just start working on it, even if just a little at a time. I used a glass scraper (a.k.a. - razor blade with handle) and it worked well on the surface of the tile. It took a long time to get the grout line to look decent and I'm still looking for a tool that will make that part easier.

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Grout lines after cleaning.

Chipping away at grout is kind of fun and ﻿it's very rewarding when the lines look nice and clean. But that feeling wears off very quickly when I look around and see how many lines there left are to do. Why did we go with subway tile again?

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

This past summer Mrs. Forest noticed that the mulberry tree in the back yard was keeping out a lot of light. So she decided that it should be taken down. Now normally a chain saw would be used but if you're part of Mrs. Forest's Magic Tree Service you could just will it down!

Monday, October 3, 2011

It's been a long time since my last post. Kids and work have put a hold on the house, but I finally got a small project done yesterday.

I covered up a hole in the porch roof where squirrels were getting in. I used wire mesh and an one-way exclusion door to make sure any squirrels inside could get out. Hopefully, they didn't start storing their nut supply yet because they will be S.O.L.!

It was hard to access the area by ladder and I had to stretch to get the mesh secure. Hopefully, I have it secured properly but I will keep checking for any signs of entry.

Our House - Forest Hall

Circa 1865, our house is a Second Empire Victorian. We are only the 3rd owners and purchased the house from a sweet 80 yr old women who had lived here for over 50 years. Much of the original interior details are still intact (just painted pistachio green!). My wife and I, together with our 3 young saplings, hope to live here for a very long time. We hope to do what we can to restore the house to it's original glory. Let the fun begin!